Customer Reviews

The Witches' God: Lord of the Dance

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

+AH4-There are so many books on the Goddess (including the prequel to this one by the Farrars, the Witches' Goddess, which is good) but what about information about the God of the Witches? This book by the Farrar's, who are "among the best known authors on the Craft" according the cover, have complied a book solely on the God, including 12 or so individual Gods and appropriate rituals for each (Pan, Osiris, Tammuz, Thoth, Herne/Cernunnos, Shiva, The Dagda, Loki, Zeus, Eros, Ra and Amun-Ra,+AH4-+AH4- Wayland and Smith). Also includes recipes for foods and incenses that correspond with the God(s), photos and a dictionary of over 1000 Gods, past and present, and looks at the many faces of the God in history and mythology. I think it is a worthwhile addition to any Witch's library to compliment the many Goddess books out there. While it is not beginner material about Witchcraft or Wicca as a religion of course, it is interesting and good reference material on the subject of the God. It strives+AH4-+AH4- to "re-establish the ancient balance between the God and Goddess." I'd recommend it along with the Witches' Goddess since they really do go together+AH4-

This book is advertised as having three parts. The first discusses God archetypes, the second presents rituals for various Gods, and the third is supposed to be an encyclopedia of Gods. The only truely useful part (for me at least) is part one.

The discussion of God archetypes is pretty good. Some of the archetypes are better than others, but overall the Farrars' do a good job of presenting the material. A little more academic than most of the other books I have read on the subject. Presents the each archetype seperately but makes important connections between them. Written sort of as a series of justifications for archetypes.

The second part gives short descriptions of each God and then provides a ritual. Many of the rituals are little more than long incantations. They are all written for covens and most cannot be easily adapted to solitary use. Still, the descriptions of the Gods themselves are interesting.

Finally the third part is nothing more than a list of names. Many of the names say nothing next to them at all. Some of three or four word descriptions like "God of War" or "Father of Blank." Arranged alphabetically instead of by culture or archetype so you need to know the God's name in order to look it up, at which point you only learn His name, something you already knew.

A good read if you are interested in learning more about the roles of God archetypes.

I love this book, yes, as a Wiccan, there are not a lot of books written about the God, but there are some, and this is by far the best. It has stories, tells you whos who and what's what. if you are a Wiccan, you need this book. Yes, I came into the Craft because the Goddess spoke to me as a woman, but the God has been masked and his many guises denied or branded evil. This book sets it straight. Please get your hands on a copy if you are Wiccan or wish to adore the many faces of God.

This is one of best books when trying to find male deities for rituals and one of most complete even thou not totaly perfect it's one of best i seen on subject..

Blessed Be;

This book provides a great historical overview of the many faces of 'God' in his masculine role, spanning a variety of cultures, agrarian and nomadic,Occidental and Oriental, etc. I would recommend it to any budding pagan who wishes to expand their concepts of 'God' beyond the omnipotent, patriarchal, christian, misogynistic stereotype that most of us were brought up with. I have read several books by the Farrars and I would recommend most of them for the novice pagan.

I was surprised to find this book, essentially, "light reading". I'm used to such a level of depth and scholarship from the Farrars that I was surprised they did not go into more detail in places.

Still, they handled an incredibly broad subject extremely well, and the reference-list in the back -- with hundreds of God-names, telling what culture they're from & giving a brief description -- is invaluable and unlike anything else I've run across. This section alone should earn it a space on every Wiccan's bookshelf.

I plan to buy the companion book (The Witch's Goddess) when I have a chance.

All too often the Pagan God is forgotten in favor of the Goddess. This book will bring the balance back to our lives. It gives the history of many well know Gods as well as many not so well known Ones. It also includes rituals in direct relation to the Gods listed. I love this book! It goes well with The Witches' Goddess!

This is a fabulous, necessary book. How many books do we have that look at the sacred male sexuality? It is just a bonus that it was written by the Farrars. As usual, they have given the pagan community another reference book that doubles as an inspiration as well.

This book is well worth the time and effort. Our male divinites are a vital part of our beings and the Farrars have done a commendable job with this one. I say that this volume is a necessary part of any witches study.

Some people will dismiss the entire work because of a postition they do not agree with (a reviewer below advises that this book is dangerous).In my view,I would think that most intelligent and understanding people in the craft will be able to utilize the information presented here as an asset to their own spiritual path. Even information that you feel is wrong is a gift because it can ,if you allow it to, help to strenghten your own beliefs.

What in my opinion makes this book, along with all of her published works so valuable to our history is the fact that, like Starhawk and the Spiral Dance, Janet has grown and changed over the years.It is important for us, especially to those who are just setting out on the path to see and undestand how the Craft, modern paganism and Wicca as a religion have developed, stumbled and grown into what we have now, and how it will hopefully do the same as the years move on. As we grow as a movement and learn more about our histories we can only hope that others who are held as leaders in our communities will have the same courage shown by Janet and others to realize that some ideas and understandings no longer work.

That being said, I would like to add this: If it were not for the Farrars,Gardner,Doreen Valiente, Raymond Buckland, Ed Fitch,Gavin & Yvonne Frost, Wicca would not exist.We must give honor and respect to those who helped clear the path for the rest of us no matter if we agree with them or not.

What draws me to this path is that unlike the big-box religions,the pagan way is one that is and will always be evolving. If we allow ourselves to be open to change, growth and have an unconditional trust in the Gods, we will be able to become the people we were meant to be. And getting there is going to be the journey and adventure of a lifetime.

i think this is a great book for no other reason than the God is generally overlooked in most Pagan traditions. however, this book doesn't do too much to overcome that fact. the section of "war gods" was a joke, showing the typical Wiccan preference for all things female. the invocation to Loki was laughable, while the invocation to Zeus was a play! and just for the record, if the Ferrars are so anti-war god, why on earth do they include any invocations to deities such as Loki Laufeyson, the god who brought about Ragnarok with his malicious deeds?!? just curious, really. i found a lot of the info in this book to be helpful, but some of the opinions and invocations made this book only "average" as opposed to great. i will say this though, it is worth it for the index of gods alone.